New to Pat testing - Help on costs!

[TJ Anderson]

Hey. I'm new to the PAT testing world and before I get going would really appreciate any help you can give on costing. I'm trying to forecast at the moment - so I don't go jacking my current job in to find myself up the creek without a paddle!

I've seen the amounts people charge per item so have a rough idea of what to charge, but I literally have no idea how many items to expect in certain types of business. For example - whats the average amount of money I could make testing a hairdressers, or a restaurant? I know its probably a huge grey area because the amount you can make will depend on the size of the business. I am really new to this and want to make sure I'm fully prepared and aware of the sort of money I can make before I go running away to the sunset only to get burnt!

Thanks in advance

Jen

Just to give you a heads up. Nationals do it for 75p an appliance and their "engineers" lol, "inspect and test" lol, 300 appliances a day!! Mugs game. If asked, I do £50 including 10 appliances then £2.00 each after that. I don't do many!!

 

[Guest77]

When ever I do PAT it's £7.50/item

You don't do much then? the big companies who do this usually do it for a quid an item, I am not suggesting for one minute it is right, but it happens lol, 7-50 haha, well good luck earning a living from that price.

 

[Silly Sausage]

I used to get 40p per item from the agency during the low, low points of my electrical career.
You've never seen me move so fast in your life!!! Some testing did actually get done, not all sticker slapping. :smilielol5:

 

[Charlie_]

The main factor that dictates the costs is how extensive the tests are.
You need to come up with a price list based on what tests you are carrying out and what reports are being provided.
what types of testers do you use?

 

[Jonspark]

You don't do much then? the big companies who do this usually do it for a quid an item, I am not suggesting for one minute it is right, but it happens lol, 7-50 haha, well good luck earning a living from that price.

That's just a side job, I have a full time job also

 

[Simon-0116]

Day rate, and fix things thats broke. People will under cut you but you will guarantee most items will be safe and mended.

 

[Adam W]

Day rate, and fix things thats broke. People will under cut you but you will guarantee most items will be safe and mended.

That's what clients will be most likely to go for - they're getting someone in to pass all their appliances, not fail them.

As for 'averages' it depends on how many appliances they have and how accessible they are, not what type of business they are, eg a 'restaurant' could have exactly the same appliances as a 'pub', but another pub or restaurant may be bigger, or have loads of table lamps, etc. Likewise in some offices you can spend most of your time moving furniture around to unplug things.
I tested a 'factory' once, which made sheds. Apart from a table saw and a few chargers for battery drills, most of the appliances were in the office.

 

[Guest77]

That's just a side job, I have a full time job also

Fair enough, that is completely different then.

 

[Essex_]

Calculate all you overheads and add them together. Divide this figure by 240 which is the number of days (approx) you will work in a year taking 4 weeks holiday. If you can do 50 items a day then divide you last figure by 50. That is your break even figure per item.